Kerry to Enlist Big Name Clinton Aides for Campaign

[louis c]

It was only a week ago that I said that the Kerry campaign should follow a blue-print established be the Clinton Campaign. I'm glad he is now seeing the seriousness of having established, seasoned veterans to advise him in this fight. Mr favorite is Carville.

Link

www.nytimes.com/2004/09/06/politics/campaign/06kerry.html?ei=5065&en=86c4535e859ac4&ex=1095048000&partner=myway&pagewanted=printer&position

[molly]

1. Let's all take a deep breath and remember

what they were TRYING to do to Clinton at this point in his campaign. This is GREAT!!!!

[papau]

2. "Bush has taken us in the wrong direction-Failed policies"needs My policy

The first is the existing Kerry high command, which includes Mary Beth Cahill, the campaign manager; Bob Shrum, a senior adviser; Tad Devine, a senior adviser; and Stephanie Cutter, the communications director. The second is the Clinton camp, which includes Joe Lockhart, a former White House press secretary; Joel Johnson, a former senior White House aide; and Doug Sosnik, a former Clinton political director. And Howard Wolfson, a former chief of staff to Hillary Rodham Clinton, joined the campaign yesterday.

Members of both camps played down any suggestion of a Clinton takeover of a troubled campaign and insisted there was no tension between the two groups. Still, these days, Mr. Lockhart is stationed in an office on one side of the campaign war room; Mr. Shrum's office is on the opposite side.

On Saturday, Mr. Johnson drew applause from Democrats assembled for a weekly strategy meeting at Mr. Kerry's headquarters when he reassured aides that the campaign had settled on a clear line of attack against Mr. Bush, people at the meeting said. They said Mr. Johnson told the group that the campaign wanted the entire party to heed the new talking points.

"It's very simple," Mr. Johnson said in an interview yesterday, describing what he said would be the template for Mr. Kerry's speeches and advertisements in the weeks ahead. "It's: 'Bush has taken us in the wrong direction. If you want more of the same for the next four years, vote for President Bush. If you want a new direction, John Kerry and John Edwards.' It's not complicated. Failed policies, jobs and the economy, health care."

[papau]

3. Indeed it needs "my policy" in snappy one liner! n/t :-)

:-)

[Randy4Randi]

4. Begala to remain on CNN and work for Kerry

Isn't there a conflict of interest here? Should a news org be taking sides in a major election?

[Pab Sungenis]

5. Why not?

Everyone else on CNN is working for Bush. They just won't admit it.

[BattyDem]

9. Well, Novak revealed the name of an undercover CIA operative ...

and he still works there! :mad:

Besides, Crossfire is not a news program, it's a discussion of current events - a partisan debate. Carville and Begala are well-known partisan Dems, so there's already full disclosure and no one is led to believe they are unbiased. If Limbaugh can shill for the Repugs on every broadcast, then they better not mess with Begala!

Note to Kerry campaign: IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!!!!!! :evilgrin:

[Randy4Randi]

11. Is Nofacts openly working on the bush campaign?

Is limpballs working for a respected news org *and* working on the bush campaign? I just happen to feel news orgs should stay out of campaign issues and just report the news in an unbiased fashion. Is that asking too much?

[BattyDem]

12. I agree with you 100% that ...

"... news orgs should stay out of campaign issues and just report the news in an unbiased fashion.

But the fact is, these days, news orgs don't simply report the facts in an unbiased fashion, which is why I don't depend on American news outlets for my info.

I could come up with many examples of bias, but some of the most obvious ones always seem to involve Gore:

In 2002, Al Gore gave a speech criticizing Bush's Iraq policy. If the news channels reported on what he said and analyzed the facts/content of his speech, that would have been news. Instead, they debated whether or not he actually had a "right" to give the speech at all! They completely ignored the content and validity of his remarks - that's not reporting the news, that's spinning the story to make Gore look bad and Bush look good.

In June 2004, Gore gave a speech slamming Bush for several things, like linking Al-Qaeda and Saddam, using fear as a means to seize power and shred the Constitution, and for the policies and values of the administration. The news channels didn't discuss the points Gore made or the facts he presented, they simply repeated the right-wing talking points: "Gore has anger management issues" and he's part of "Kerry's coalition of the wild-eyed". That's not news - that's shilling for the GOP.

I'm not trying to pick a fight with you, I'm simply explaining why I don't have a problem with Begala working on the campaign. The "news media" has been shilling for the Repugs for years, yet they pretend they are fair and balanced. I'd much rather have the commentators - and that's what Begala is, a commentator, not a journalist - working openly for a campaign, instead of pretending to be unbiased when they're not ... like Limbaugh, Novak, Carlson, and the entire staff of Fox News.

Just for the record ... I don't think "real" news anchors like Dan Rather should associate themselves with campaigns because they usually try to report the news without bias. They don't always succeed, but I do believe they at least try to be fair, even though the networks they work for may have other ideas. However, the cable "news channels" are nothing but commentary, spin and propaganda. JMHO :-)

[LTR]

17. Novak doesn't work with the Bush administration

But he does have connections with a group working to elect Bush:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62540-2004Sep4.html

And there was another matter this week that I usually don't write about but that readers write to me about: opinion columnists. At issue is an Aug. 9 op-ed by syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak titled "Veterans Against Kerry" that gives support to the emergence of the "Unfit for Command" book as a "passionate but meticulously researched account of how Kerry went to war." What was unknown to readers of Novak's column, and also to the editors here who publish his work, was that Novak's son, Alex Novak, is the director of marketing for Regnery Publishing Inc., which published the book. I doubt that this had an effect on Novak's views, but it is the kind of thing that editors should know beforehand.

Lack of disclosure by columnists has come up twice before in this column: when George F. Will wrote in March 2003 about embattled media magnate Conrad M. Black without disclosing a past financial relationship with Black; and when Novak in July 2003 disclosed the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame without alerting editors that he had considered and rejected a CIA request to withhold her name.

[LTR]

He's a pundit, not a reporter

And look at all the Republican operatives on the FOX payroll.

[Clinton Crusader]

6. Im thrilled!!!!!!!!--->

"Former President Bill Clinton, in a 90-minute telephone conversation from his hospital room, offered John Kerry detailed advice on Saturday night on how to reinvigorate his candidacy, as Mr. Kerry enlisted more Clinton advisers to help shape his strategy and message for the remainder of the campaign.

In an expansive conversation, Mr. Clinton, who is awaiting heart surgery, told Mr. Kerry that he should move away from talking about Vietnam, which had been the central theme of his candidacy, and focus instead on drawing contrasts with President Bush on job creation and health care policies, officials with knowledge of the conversation said.

The conversation and the recruitment of old Clinton hands came amid rising concern among Democrats about the state of Mr. Kerry's campaign and criticism that he had been too slow to respond to attacks on his military record or to engage Mr. Bush on domestic policy. Among the better-known former Clinton aides who are expected to play an increasingly prominent role are James Carville, Paul Begala and Stanley Greenberg, campaign aides said."


Although I would have thought the CNN gig and this were conflict of interest, but Novak doesnt seem to have any problem with being part of Plame-gate..
:kick:

[louis c]

7. kick

[lastknowngood]

8. I don't trust Carville. I think he works as an insider for the repugs

I can't believe anyone could love Matlin and at the same time hate everything she stands for. Gore got a lot of bad advice and I'm sure some came from him.

[Frodo]

10. I don't know about "insider", but

I's find it hard to sell the "Zell is a dodering old fool" linw if I was using the man who had recommended him as VP...what? Four years ago?

[louis c]

13. Gore did not use Carville

He distanced himself from Clinton, which is not what Carville would have done.

I'd trust Carville with my life.

[senseandsensibility]

14. I just recently watched The War Room

the documentary about the '92 race, with Carville and Begala. The man lived to get Clinton elected. He was in tears at the end when they won. We need someone with that kind of fire.

[Lex]

16. Isn't that a GREAT documentary?

I've watched it several times. It is fascinating.

[BamaLefty]

15. Carville is my fav as well

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